Suction cleaner



June 4, 1940. c. H. TAYLOR 2,203,001

SUCTION CLEANER Filed May 9, 1938 INVENTOR 2s Char-Zes ii Ta llor Patented June 4, 1940 UNITED s'rArss SUCTION CLEANER Charles B. Taylor, Springfield, Mesa, aslignor to The Hoover Company, North Canton, Ohio, a

corporation oi'ohlo Application May a, 1m, Serial No. man

s Claims. '(Cl. 15-16) This invention relates to improvements in suction cleaners and more particularly to an arrangement whereby the suction nozzle of. a cleaner is automatically maintained at the correct height with reference to the carpet surface of the floor covering to be cleaned regardless of its quality and characteristics.

In the design and manufacture of suction cleaners it has long been the standard practice to provide some form of nozzle height adjusting mechanism or device for raising or lowering the nozzle when cleaning different grades of carpet. Carpets (which includes all floor coverings) may be divided roughly into three classes, namely; thin, medium and thick, these designations pertaining to the thickness or depth of the carpet nap or pile.

The more'common'types of nozzle adjusting devices have been manually regulated with the aid of an indicator which tells the operator when the nozzle is in the low," medium, or high" position, but, as is generally the case, the operator is not sufllciently familiar with operating conditions to determine the proper adjustment and as a result any adjustment made is quite as likely to be the wrong as the right one. Then again, operators frequently neglect to make any adjustment at all and the nozzle remains at the same setting for all carpets and the results may prove-to be less advantageous than no adjustment at all.

The object of the present invention is to eliminate the uncertain and haphazard aspects of nozzle height adjustment by incorporating into a suction cleaner, an arrangement whereby the cleaner and more definitely, the nozzle portion thereof, will adjust itself automatically to the character and quality of the carpet or rug to be cleaned without physical or mental effort on the part of the operator other than the placing of the cleaner upon the carpet or other floor cover-- ing to be cleaned.

And finally, the object of the present invention is to provide a type of full automatic nozzle height adjusting means characterized primarily by the use of pairs of front and rear wheels fixed against bodily adjustment, the front wheels being materially wider than, and bearing a definite relationship to the width of the rear wheels, the term "widt as herein used referring to the transverse dimension of the wheel tread.

And a further feature of the nozzle adjusting mechanism herein disclosed is the use of adjustable auxiliary wheels which act to support a part of the static load and to carry the handle.

With the foregoing introductory matter, the

, considered to be representative of the portable details of the invention will now be more fully brought out in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a general view in side elevation of a typical suction'cleaner with the end portion of g. the nozzle shown in section as taken in line l-l of Figure 2.

Figure 2 is the bottomplan view of the cleaner body showing the mounting of the adjusting wheels;

Figure 3 is a view in vertical section taken on line I3 of Figure 2.

The suction cleaner herein disclosed may be handle maneuvered type designed for household ll use and consisting generally of a wheel supported casing i provided with a nozzle portion I extending transversely of its forward end.' The main portion of the casing i is generally cylindrical in shape with its axis arranged horizontally and extending transversely parallel with the nozzle portion 2. Within the cylindrical casing is mounted the driving motor 3, having direct driving connection with a fan 4 located within the fan chamber 5 occupying one end of the casing l and provided with a rearwardly extending divergent exhaust outlet terminating in a flanged connection 6 to which is detachably mounted a dirt bag I. The fan chamber also has an inlet to or fan "eye located in the end wall of the casing I concentrically with respect to the axis of the fan and having direct communication with a passageway extending forwardly to the nozzle and through which the dirt laden air enters the fan chamber and is thence discharged into the dirt bag I.

Asclearly shown in Figure 1 the nozzle portion of the cleaner is a hollow transverse section forming an elongated chamber open on its underside to form the downwardly facing suction mouth. The passage from the suction chamber to the fan chamber previously mentioned, is formed by a channel shaped section 9 extending from the nozzle chamber in upwardly inclined direction with its outer end and enclosing the fan "eye as clearly shown in Figure 2.

Mounted within the nozzle chamber and extending lengthwise thereof is a rotary agitator l0 having the form of a cylinder with a suitable arrangement of brush elements Illa and beater bars Iflb projecting from the surface thereof. The agitator being now well known in the suction cleaner art as a. carpet agitating member, need not be further described except perhaps to point out that it is driven from the motor 3 by means of a belt ll passingthrough a hollow casing section l2 similar in all respects to the hollow section 9 which forms the air passage from the nozzle chamber on the opposite side of the casing. The belt drives from a pulley l3 forming an extension at one end of the motor shaft, to a pulley groove near one end of the agitator.

The cleaner casing is supported upon pairs of front and rear wheels I and I5 respectively, the front wheels l4, I4 being preferably located within downwardly opening cavities or pockets "5 formed just rearwardly of the outer ends of the nozzle chamber and included within the ends of the nozzle portion of the casing. Each front wheel I is supported by a suitable bracket I1 fastened as by means of screws to the top surface of each wheel pocket l6 and comprises a pair of depending arms Ila, Ila which straddle the wheel and support its journal pin a. The rear wheels Iii-l5 preferably form a caster unit, being journalled at opposite ends of a bracket l8 bolted or riveted to the under side of the exhaust outlet connection. Thus, both pairs of front and rear wheels l4 and I5 are journalled on bearings fixed to the cleaner body and except for the fact that the front wheels have slightly wider. tread surfaces, the arrangement is quite conventional.

However, the difference in the widths of the front and rear wheels bears a definite relation to I the depth to which they will sink into or penetrate the nap of the carpet on which the cleaner is to be operated. This relationship, termed the penetration ratio, may be expressed as follows: Under equal load, the depth of penetration of two wheels varies inversely as their relative widths. In other words, if the front wheels I4, I are twice the width of the rear wheels, the latter will sink into the carpet twice the depth.

This ratio may not be exact, but for the purpose of this disclosure may be considered to be approximated in practice.

In addition to the relatively wide and fixedly supported front wheels M-M there is another pair of auxiliary front wheels 20-20 which are also located within the wheel pockets |6|6 and immediately inwardly from the fixed wheels.

These auxiliary wheels are preferably of the same diameter as the adjacent fixed wheels H-H but are relatively narrow, in fact, the width of their treads is shown to be less than half that of the fixed wheels l4, l4. Moreover, the auxiliary wheels 20-20 differ essentially from the other wheels in that they are adjustable bodily and in a general vertical direction relative to the cleaner casing and to this end are journalled at the outer ends of hinged or pivoted brackets 2|, 2| which are bifurcated to straddle the wheels and support their journal bearings. As clearly shown in Figure 2, the supporting brackets 2|, 2| are carried at the outer ends of a rock shaft 22 extending transversely of the cleaner body beneath the cylindrical casing and terminating within the wheel pockets IS, IS. The extremities of this rock shaft are journalled in bearings 23, 23 pre- .ferably formed integral with the supporting brackets l1, l! of the adjacent fixed wheels l4, l4 and having the form of arms projecting downwardly from the rearmost ends thereof. Thus the wheel supporting brackets 2|, 2| constitute crank arms at the ends of the rock shaft 22, the latter being limited in its rocking movement to a relatively small arc andfurthermore, is opposed in its movement in one direction by a torsion spring 24 surrounding the. shaft near one end, said spring being anchored at one end tosurface of the cleaner casing which serves as a fixed abutment. In mounting the torsion spring 24 onto the rock shaft 22, it is placed under tension, so that it exerts a torque acting in a counter-clockwise direction, that is to say, in a direction to force the auxiliary wheels 20, 20 in a downward direction and into contact with the carpet surface. Moreover the force exerted by the torsion spring 24 on the rock shaft 22 and acting through the auxiliary wheels is calculated to be slightly less than is required to support the static load that is, the load when the cleaner is not in operation. In other words, the adjustable auxiliary wheels 20. 20 assume somewhat less than the total static load which otherwise would be carried by the fixed front wheels I, II.

what different than is usually the practice, since cleaner.

it is carried directly by the auxiliary wheel supporting brackets 2|, 2| instead of being pivotally mounted directly upon the body of the Thus the handle, of which only the U-shaped bail is shown. straddles the body of the cleaner with its end portions passing through longitudinally disposed slots 25a, 25a in the top wall of the cleaner casing, and having pivotal mounting on stub shafts 26, 26 forming inwardly projecting extensions of the bearing pins carried at the outer ends of the brackets 2|, 2| and supporting the auxiliary wheels 20, 20. With this arrangement it will be seen that the forces or-' dinarily transmitted through the cleaner handle are now delivered to the auxiliary wheel support-.

ing brackets directly, and the vertical components of these forces are thus removed'from the fixed supporting wheels and allowing them to respond to the more constant static and suction loads. In other words, the variable forces which otherwise would be transmitted directly to the cleaner casing are eliminated to a large degree thus permitting the adjustment of the-nozzle to be controlled by the relative vertical displacement of the fixed front and rear wheels l4, l4 and l5, l5 respectively. in accordance with the socalled penetration ratio based upon the relative width of their tread surfaces. v

Briefly then, with the cleaner in operation the suction created at the nozzle increases the load on the wheels and tends to shift the center of mass forwardly but not enough to cause any forward tilting movement'of the cleaner. However,

there will be a tendency for the front wheels to .suction load will still be less than that of the rear wheels, so that the tilting of the cleaner is actually in a counter-clockwise direction, that is, rearwardly in a direction to raise the nozzle and thereby compensate for the slightly increased penetration of the front wheels under operating conditions.

Having set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, I claim:

1. A suction cleaner comprising a casing having a nozzle, pairs of supporting wheels mounted adjacent the opposite ends of said casing, a shaft extending transversely of said casing and provided with arms, auxiliary wheels joumalled at the ends of said arms and disposed-adjacent and substantially in axial alignment with one of said pairs of supporting wheels, and tension means acting on said shaft to exert a pressure through said wheels in a direction to relieve the adjacent supporting wheels of substantially the entire static load of the cleaner.

2. A suction cleaner comprising a casing having a nozzle, a pair of supporting wheels mounted on said casing adjacent said nozzle, a pair of supporting wheels mounted on said casing remote from said nozzle, a pair of auxiliary wheels associated with said first mentioned supporting wheels and positioned substantially in axial alignment therewith, a shaft pivotally mounted on said casing and having arms carrying said auxiliary wheels, and a torsion spring acting on said shaft to yieldingly force said auxiliary wheels in a direction to counterbalance a substantial portion of the load that would otherwise be carried by the adjacent supporting wheels and for the purpose described.

3. A suction cleaner comprising a casing having a nozzle, pairs of supporting wheels adjacent the opposite ends thereof, a pair of auxiliary wheels associated with one of said pairs of supporting wheels, each of said auxiliary wheels being positioned at one side of andsubstantially in axial alignment with its associated supporting wheel, and means for mounting said auxiliary wheels for limited vertical adjustment including a transverse shaft having arms extending at right angles thereto and carrying said auxiliary wheels, and tension means acting on said shaft to depress said auxiliary wheels below the level of their associated supporting wheels and yielding support a; predetermined portion of the entire static load which otherwise would be carried by said supporting wheels.

4. A suction cleaner having a nozzle and supporting wheels adjacent opposite ends thereof, auxiliary wheels associated with the supporting wheels at one end of the cleaner and mounted a substantially in axial alignment therewith, means for mounting said auxiliary wheels for limited vertical adjustment including a transverse shaft having arms extending at right angles thereto and carrying said auxiliary wheels, and a handle having pivotal connection with said auxiliary wheel carryingv arms.

5. A suction cleaner having a nozzle and pairs of front and rear supporting wheels, a pair of auxiliary wheels associated with the front supporting wheels and positioned substantially in axial alignment therewith, a rotative shaft extending transversely beneath said casing and having arms at each end thereof carrying said auxiliary wheels at their outer ends, and a torsion spring acting on said shaft in a direction to depress said auxiliary wheels with suificient pressure to relieve the adjacent supporting wheels of a predetermined portion of the static load which would otherwise be carried thereby, and a handle having a U-shaped bail pivotally mounted at the ends of the wheel carrying arms of said shaft.

6. A suction cleaner, comprising a casing having a nozzle at its forward end, a pair of supporting wheels having fixed mountings adjacent the forward end of said casing and provided with relatively wide tread surfaces, supporting wheels mounted at the rear of said casing, a pair of auxiliary wheels associated with said front supporting wheels and having relatively narrow tread surfaces, a rock shaft extending transversely beneath said casing and journalled for limitedaxial rotation, said shaft having forwardly extending arms at each end, said auxiliary wheels being journalled at the outer ends of said arms, a torsion spring acting on said shaft and acting to rotate said shaft in a direction to depress said auxiliary wheels below the adjacent supporting wheels to thereby assume a predetermined proportion of the load which otherwise would be carried by the front supporting wheels, and a handle having a U-shaped ball with its end portions extending through the top of said casing and pivotally mounted at the ends of said auxiliary wheel carrying arms and substantially in axial alignment therewith.

CHARLES H. TAYLOR. 

